Organ Recital Hall / University Center for the Arts
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ORGAN RECITAL HALL / UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR THE ARTS ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ CO-PRESENTED BY THE LINCOLN CENTER AND COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY ⊳ ⊳ ⊳ RE-IMAGING SONDHEIM FROM THE PIANO APRIL 17, 7:30 P.M. TONIGHT’S PROGRAM ANTHONY DE MARE / LIAISONS: RE-IMAGINING SONDHEIM FROM THE PIANO (ALL WORKS BASED ON MATERIAL BY STEPHEN SONDHEIM) Into the Woods (2013) Andy Akiho (Into the Woods) The Ladies Who Lunch (2010) David Rakowski (Company) Color and Light (2012) Nico Muhly (Sunday in the Park with George) Finishing the Hat –Two Pianos (2010) Steve Reich (Sunday in the Park with George) I Think About You (2010) Paul Moravec (after “Losing My Mind” — Follies) That Old Piano Roll (2014) Wynton Marsalis (Follies) Johanna in Space (2014) Duncan Sheik (after “Johanna” – Sweeney Todd) The Demon Barber (2010) Kenji Bunch (A Fantasia on “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”) No One Is Alone (2010) Fred Hersch (Into the Woods) I’m Excited. No You’re Not. (2010) Jake Heggie (after “A Weekend in the Country” – A Little Night Music) FROM THE ARTIST Like many of us, I have long held in highest esteem the work of Stephen Sondheim, whose fearless eclecticism has emboldened many a musical risk-taker. Over the years, I often found myself imagining how the familiar and beloved songs of the Sondheim canon would sound if transformed into piano works along the lines of what Art Tatum and Earl Wild did for George Gershwin and Cole Porter, or what Liszt did for Verdi, Schubert and so many others. In 2007, after many years of working with talented composers from across the musical spectrum, I decided to pursue a formal commissioning and concert project. With a generous spark of enthusiasm from Mr. Sondheim (including some wonderful suggestions for composers to invite), LIAISONS: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano was born. Liaisons now features the work of 36 composers ranging in age from 30 to nearly 80, representing seven different countries and 44 Pulitzer, Grammy, Tony, Emmy and Academy Awards. Taken as a whole, they demonstrate the way Sondheim’s influence has extended far beyond the musical theater to reach into the realms of classical, jazz, pop, theater, indie & film. The entire collection now stands as a celebration of Sondheim and the composers who rose to the challenge of adding their voices to his, a creative alchemy that affirms that his work is as much at home in a concert hall as on a Broadway stage. A project this ambitious in scope is by definition a team effort. Producer Rachel Colbert joins me in thanking all the donors, designers, scholars, skeptics, presenters, partners and friends who helped us make Liaisons a reality. We would also like to thank ECM Records, one of the recording industry’s greatest supporters of musical innovation, for giving Liaisons such a welcome and fitting home. In addition, we add a special thanks to Jack Rogers and the staff at The Lincoln Center of Fort Collins and Colorado State University for the opportunity to present Liaisons this evening. Thank you for being a part of this journey. To add further context I’ve asked each of the composers to write something about their piece, and following are their comments — a true testament to the diversity of talents represented by the Project, and to the singular impact Sondheim’s music has had on us all. — Anthony de Mare COMPOSER COMMENTS ANDY AKIHO: “The first time I listened to it I loved the concept ofInto the Woods— being lost in and confused by the woods, and the consistent and driving rhythms of the opening prologue. I was also intrigued by Sondheim’s innovative and witty use of spoken narrative against his catchy melodies, particularly during each character’s introduction. My goal in re-imagining this prologue was to orchestrate each character’s personality with the use of prepared piano—for example, dimes on the strings for the cow scenes, poster tack on the strings for door knocks and narrated phrases, and credit card string-clusters for the wicked witch. My goal was to portray each character’s story and mystical journey using exotic piano timbres in place of text.” DAVID RAKOWSKI: “Like all of the composers in The Liaisons Project, I was presented with the problem of reframing a song that is already perfect—and in my case, my favorite Sondheim song, The Ladies Who Lunch. My solution was, to the best of my ability, to concentrate on the character’s deep sadness, thereby eschewing the song’s big finish for a slow, introspective one.” NICO MUHLY: “The light-suffused chords that open Sunday in the Park with George are some of the best-spaced chords ever. I used to obsessively study them and play them and dream about ways to steal them. What is particularly astonishing about Sunday, too, is the way in which the “mechanical” music that drives the score gives way to an emotional immediacy with the characters instantly: it’s the best tension between the motor and the heart. This is clearest, I think, in Color and Light, a multi-part duet between George and Dot and, indeed, the orchestra. My homage to this piece tries to accentuate the angular music, making it somewhat dangerously unhinged, while always returning to the more supple landscape of the love story.” STEVE REICH: “Finishing the Hat—Two Pianos - for Stephen Sondheim is a rather faithful re- working of one of Sondheim’s favorite songs from Sunday in the Park with George, and incidentally the title of his recent book. Harmonically very close to the original, and melodically adding only occasional variations, my only real change is in the rhythm of constantly changing meters. This gives my two piano version a rhythmic character more in line with my own music and, hopefully, another perspective with which to appreciate Sondheim’s brilliant original.” For this performance, Anthony de Mare accompanies himself with his own recording of the Piano 2 part. PAUL MORAVEC: “I Think About You takes its title from the second — and oftrepeated line of ‘Losing My Mind’ from Follies. In my re-imagining for piano solo, the eponymous musical phrase repeats maniacally to the point of ‘losing its mind.’ The piece is a musical meditation on obsession, heartbreak, and, finally, the timeless need to love and be loved.” WYNTON MARSALIS: “Stephen Sondheim employs many syncopated and expressive devices in That Old Piano Roll. My arrangement uses these concepts to evoke the styles of three great Jazz pianists. The basic stride style of James P. Johnson is answered by the jagged, obtuse style of Thelonious Monk. Both find resolution in the ragtime-swing style of New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton. The parlor piano elegance of the second theme, with its tresillo rhythm, is juxtaposed to a 4/4 New Orleans ragtime stomp. In the 1920s a heated debate swirled around Jazz as polite society music or red hot dance music. Now, we happily play it all.” DUNCAN SHEIK: “By some happy twist of circumstance my mother took me to see the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd when I was 9 years old. I remember a shocking amount of blood. Returning to see the show in John Doyle’s 2006 production I more fully appreciated the neat trick of how “Johanna” morphs from a plaintive, hopeful declaration of love into the pathos and pathology of love completely lost. Two opposite ends of the human condition oscillating back and forth. Not being a virtuoso pianist myself I wanted to simplify the actual piano part to its most basic components—the Satie version of “Johanna” if you will. But I also wanted to have the atmosphere of Johanna’s celestial beauty and the idea that, like a shooting star, she is out of reach. To this end I employed a technique of layering dozens of takes of guitar improvisation through a tape echo thus creating a blanket of sound for the piano to linger within. So a piece for piano and tape echo, Johanna in Space.” KENJI BUNCH: “My first exposure to Sweeney Todd came as a 10-year old watching a PBS broadcast of the Broadway production. I was both terrified and fascinated, and have felt the work’s and Sondheim’s influence ever since. For The Demon Barber—an homage to the seething, menacing introductory song, “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” I highlighted the original song’s oblique references to the Dies Irae Gregorian melody into a persistent, ominous chant that surfaces throughout. I also wanted to amplify the work’s horror-show qualities with low register rumblings, shrieking high clusters, and insistent rhythmic ostinato patterns.” FRED HERSCH: “No One Is Alone (from Into the Woods) appealed to me because its diatonic melody (like many of the great tunes by Richard Rodgers) enabled me to make subtle changes in the harmony that reflect my jazz sensibility. I could make the arrangement sound lush and pianistic—and just let the melody sing. And I love what the lyric says—it is a very relevant song.” JAKE HEGGIE: “I’m Excited. No, You’re Not is my take on Stephen Sondheim’s amazing ensemble, ‘A Weekend in the Country’. I tried to capture the energy and the momentum, as well as a few bumps in the road, in creating a big, fun, splashy tour-de-force for Tony de Mare.” All pieces were commissioned expressly for The Liaisons Project, Rachel Colbert and Anthony de Mare, producers. The Liaisons Project has been produced with the express permission of Stephen Sondheim. Anthony de Mare is represented by Bernstein Artists, Inc. www.bernsarts.com Visit www.liaisonsproject.com to learn more or get in touch.